Friday, July 06, 2007

AZIMUTHThough it be nightthere are still clouds at workmoving in the DarkSilvery Linings at play softlyShimmering high and brightlyEven as we sleep Beyond the usual horizonHold your lense HighAnd keep your chin up.

Explanation: Alluring noctilucent or night-shining clouds lie near the edge of space, some 80 kilometers above Earth's surface. Of course, when viewed from space the clouds are more properly called polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) -- seen here for the first time in image data from the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite. The clouds form over the poles in the corresponding summer season and are now being seen more frequently at lower latitudes. This paticular view from June 11 details the PMC structures forming over the north polar region in white and blue. (Black indicates no cloud data was available.) The AIM satellite should be able to track two complete cloud seasons over both poles to investigate possible connections between the high altitude night-shining clouds and global change in the lower atmosphere.

The preceeding was pulled from my 'Astronomy Photo of the Day" site, and if you click on the links, there are probaly better pics than the ones I have chosen and more info on NLC's.

They hover on the edge of space. Thin, wispy clouds, glowing electric blue. Some scientists think they're seeded by space dust. Others suspect they're a telltale sign of global warming.They're called noctilucent or "night-shining" clouds (NLCs). And whatever causes them, they're lovely.They are a faily recent phnomemna, first noted in 1885 after Krakatoa erupted.I saw these and thought of Annelisa.

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